They were basically Romeo and Juliet, except without the tragedy
by IHaveATheoryItCouldBeBunnies
Summary: Beca and Chloe work in rival shops. They meet unexpectedly and begin a friendship that they are trying to pretend doesn't exist. How do they manage to continue to hide it when feelings start to grow? Bad summary but you get the gist. Bechloe
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: DIFFERENCES

 **Hello! This chapter is very much setting the scene so this is quite short but it will pick up! please enjoy!**

* * *

"Thank you, sir. Have a good day!" Chloe said with a huge smile plastered on her face. She breathed a happy sigh and turned to her colleague Aubrey.

"You're very happy today, considering you've been on a ten-hour shift."

"This is just the best job isn't it! I mean, for a first job out of school, you expect to be washing dishes or making coffee for ungrateful customers, but this is awesome! People are friendly and always make me smile!"

"Somehow I think even if you were washing dishes you'd still think it's the best job in the world," commented Aubrey.

"I like to be positive, that's—" A man walked into the shop and Chloe instantly turned her attention. "Hello, how are you today?"

"Good thanks."

"Good, can I help you at all today? Would you like to try one of our samples?" she practically skipped over and picked up the sampling tray. "So, this is a milk chocolate praline, it's got a smooth hazel but centre and a rich milk chocolate outside. It's one of my absolute favourites! It's such a classic! The ,chocolate just melts in your mouth and then you get to the really subtle but lovely nutty centre." she said beaming at him.

The man took one of the chocolates and entered into conversation with the bubbly red head behind the counter. Chloe pointed out three different boxes of chocolates that would be "just perfect for his niece's graduation!" He bought them all.

* * *

"Thank you, sir, have a good day," Beca said with a false smile on her face. She sighed, it had been a long shift.

"You okay?" asked Jesse, her work colleague.

"I just really want to sit down," replied Beca, "and I don't like smiling for this long.

"Ah come on, this job is not that bad."

"I know, but—" and man walked in and Beca muttered under her breath before turning to him. "Hello, how are you today? Would you like to try one of our samples?" she reached over and picked up the sampling tray. "We have a traditional milk chocolate truffle. It's made up of three layers, the cocoa powder coating, the milk chocolate shell, and the softer centre. Let me know if you need anything else." She turned away. She wasn't in the mood to try to make the sale and she silently begged Jesse to take over for her. He was much better at the customer service side of things, sure she know the chocolates off by heart and inside out but somehow, she'd never got the knack of the customer service.

* * *

Chloe finished her shift, turned right, and began the cold walk to the bus stop. It was winter and it had been raining. On her way she passed Montague's Chocolates. "We're better than them," she thought to herself as she hurried past the glass window. Chloe was lovely and wouldn't hurt a butterfly, but she was also very protective of her shop and the home away from home that it had come to be.

* * *

Beca finished her shift and headed left out towards her bike. It was raining and she hadn't brought her raincoat. "Damn it," she thought. She passed by Choculates, the rival chocolate shop. "We're better than them," she thought to herself as she pulled her hoodie up over her head. Working in a chocolate shop may not have been Beca's dream, but she was _very_ competitive and although she would never admit it, had become rather fond of her shop and wanted it to do well.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed and let me know!**

 **xx**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

It was nearing the evening and Beca was looking forward to her shift ending. If she was lucky, she would get home before the promised rain started to fall. Her manager, Luke, came onto shop floor to help with closing up the shop.

"Can you start vacuuming?" He practically yelled. Beca had turned up the music and he could hardly hear himself think.

"Sure," Beca replied. She picked up the vacuum and turned it on. This was Beca's favourite part of the day; closing the shop. No customers to be friendly to, the music as loud as she wanted because, as much as Luke complained, she knew he didn't really mind as long as she did her job. She began to hoover singing and dancing along as she did so.

"I'm bulletproof nothing to lose  
Fire away, fire away."

When they'd both finished all their jobs, Beca and Luke headed to the door to set the alarm. Once the shop was fully closed, Beca bid Luke goodbye and headed to her bike. It was raining. Heavily. Beca was soaked. It was closing time for all the shops and there were many tired looking sales assistants headed home. Beca hummed as she made her way to the bike rack.

"You shout it out  
But I can't hear a word you say.

Chloe slowed her walking as she heard the first few lines of Titanium, the song she had just been listening to as she vacuumed.

"I'm talking loud not saying much."

Chloe looked around to see who was singing. They had a really beautiful voice.

"I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet  
You shoot me down, but I get up."

Beca had her hood so far over her face that Chloe couldn't see who was singing. So she did the only thing that seemed logical to her, although not many other people would have necessarily agreed, and she began to harmonise.

"I'm bulletproof nothing to lose  
Fire away, fire away."

Beca looked up from the floor at hearing someone else singing with her and tried to spot them through the wall of rain. She paused for a second before continuing.

"Ricochet, you take your aim."

The voice was so lovely it seemed to give Beca a new found confidence.

"Fire away, fire away."

Beca turned her head towards Chloe.

"You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium."

The two girls made eye contact.

"You shoot me down but I won't fall."

The stepped towards each other.

"I am titanium."

They were facing each other at this point. Both drenched and freezing but neither of them caring. They held their eye contact, both admiring each other.

"You can sing," said Chloe finally breaking the silence.

"Um…I mean, just for fun, I don't normally let anyone hear so…" she trailed off.

"So I guess I'm lucky," smiled Chloe.

"Yeah, I guess so."

A silence fell. Beca felt too awkward to break it but also too awkward while in it and so she was relieved when the girl in front of her said:

"I'm Chloe," and stuck her hand out towards Beca.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Beca," she said, wondering how she had managed to get herself into this situation; standing in front of one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen and actually having a conversation with her. Well, it wasn't really a conversation, Beca thought. No, that would imply that she actually had something to say back. The awkwardness rose again and Beca blurted out, "you're beautiful." Shit, why had she said that? "Voice," she said. "You have a beautiful voice, is what I mean…" She looked at Chloe trying to read her expression.

The redhead smiled, and then began to giggle. A soft, musical giggle and Beca couldn't help but smile back.

"So are you," she replied, "I mean, do you," she added mischievously.

Beca blushed. She was very thankful for the nearly horizontal rain that somewhat covered her face.

"Do you work here?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah, just there in Montague's Chocolates," Beca pointed.

"Oh."

"What?" Beca said. She didn't feel like Chloe was the type of person who didn't have anything to say and Beca worried that she had offended her, although she couldn't figure out how.

"Oh its just…I work in Choculates."

"Oh."

They stood in even more awkward silence as the rain fell around them.

"Well, I should be off then. It was lovely to um…sing with you," Chloe said and the two girls parted ways.

As Chloe walked to her car, something about Beca made her want to turn back and talk more but she couldn't be friends with the enemy. It wasn't like her and Beca were friends. No. Her loyalty was to her shop. It had to be. Why did she feel like this? The girl was pretty enough, had a lovely voice, had been adorably awkward, but that was it. Nothing special, right? Except Cloe couldn't shake the feeling that there was.

She got in her car and began to drive up the main road. She could see a back bike light ahead. She felt sorry for anyone who was cycling in this weather, in the dark. The car in front of her was speeding and as he passed thee bike, a huge puddle of water splashed up and over them. Chloe felt even worse now and once she was within ten meters she slowed to less that twenty mile and hour in order to ensure the cyclist's safety. As she passed, she glanced in her mirror and saw that the girl on the bike was Beca. She was wet and miserable. Chloe knew she shouldn't but something in her mind beyond her control took over and she pulled over. She opened her door and called to Beca.

Beca, realising that someone was calling her name, looked up. There was Chloe. Leaning out of her car and calling her over. Beca pulled up.

"Do you want a lift?" Yelled Chloe over the sound of the rain.

Normally Beca would refuse a lift even from her own dad, but she had lost the feeling in her fingers a while ago, she wasn't sure that her hair was ever going to recover, and she was physically shaking with cold and she had at least a half hour journey back home. She nodded and locked her bike at the side of the road.

"Thank you," Beca said, trembling.

"My god, you're shaking. Where do you live?"

Beca told her and Chloe turned the heating up. The tow chatted about nothing in particular, although they both avoided the topic of work. They finally pulled up to Beca's house. She thanked Chloe again and got out. Beca walked around the car to the curb where her front door was only a few meters away only to be met by Chloe climbing out of the driver's side.

"What are you doing? It's freezing!" queried Beca.

"Making sure you get home safely!" saud Chloe, matter-of-factly.

"My house is literally just there!" Beca said sarcastically.

"Well what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't walk you back to your door?"

Beca couldn't help but laugh at that and allowed herself to be walked back by Chloe. At the door, Chloe pulled Beca in for a long hug. It took her by surprise, however Beca was not entirely opposed to it.

As Beca was about to step in her door and Chloe was about to get into her car, Chloe called out, "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8?"

"What?!"

"Well your bike is miles away and I'd hate for you to have to walk when we're headed the same way anyway." Chloe saw Beca about to open her mouth. "No protesting. See you tomorrow!" And with that, she drove off, a huge smile spreading across her face.

Beca went inside, and couldn't help but feel happy.


	3. Chapter 3

When Chloe woe up the next morning, she felt that slight excited feeling that you get in your stomach when maybe you're nervous, or anxious for something to happen. She couldn't instantly remember why though and lay in bed trying to think about what excitement her day might have in store. It clicked. Beca. She'd promised Beca that she would drive her into work which meant another 20 minutes with the small brunette. Chloe bounced out of bed and began to get ready for work.

At precisely 8 o'clock, Chloe knocked on Beca's door.

"Hello?" a man asked as he opened the door.

"Hi!" I'm Chloe, I'm here to pick up Beca!" she said extending her hand.

"Ah, I'll get her," he disappeared.

Chloe heard muffled voices from inside and a few minutes later, Beca appeared.

When Beca got to the door, she had to try and catch her breath. She'd forgotten exactly how pretty Chloe was and it took her a second to compose herself. She didn't have a second however, as Chloe had pulled her into a hug.

"Morning! You ready to go?"

"Uhm yeah," Beca struggled out and they got into Chloe's car.

They chatted about nothing in particular on the journey, both mostly just enjoying the other's company. It surprised Beca how comfortable she felt around Chloe; Beca didn't feel comfortable around anybody. However, despite this comfort, Beca also felt incredible awkward. It was nice to relax in her presence but she also felt a very _very_ strong need not to embarrass herself.

Chloe felt quite giddy for much of the car ride. Beca seemed to bring out the best in her and Chloe couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this happy with a near stranger. Chloe was a very bubbly person but it normally took longer than for her to build a friendship as strong as the one she already felt she had with Beca.

At some point, Beca began talking about Jesse. From what Chloe could tell, he sounded like he was Beca's best friend (although Beca would never use those words). Chloe felt a pang of jealousy. Why? Why was she jealous of some guy? Was it because he got to spend more time with Beca? Or maybe because she seemed to really like him. Chloe knew it was stupid to think this way about a girl she had only just met.

They got nearer and nearer to work and both girls, not knowing the other was doing it too, were willing there to be a major traffic jam, or a diversion, or anything, just so they could remain in this moment for a small amount longer.

After Chloe had parked, the girls reluctantly got out of the car.

"Thanks, for the lift! Um, we should probably, you know, like, not go in together," Beca said.

"Oh, um, yeah. You're right," Chloe agreed although she was not happy.

"Yeah I mean I now Jesse would kill me if he thought I was fraternising with the enemy," she joked and Chloe laughed.

"Yeah, Aubrey too. Do you want to go first, and I'll be right behind you!"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks again!"

Beca walked off, awkwardly. The truth of the matter was, neither girl knew when or even if they would ever see the other again. They didn't work together, Beca now had her bike again so there was no need for Chloe to give her a lift, it wasn't even like they were really friends, not mention the fact that they weren't meant to be seeing each other anyway. But both girls instantly missed the company of the other.

* * *

Aubrey had noticed Chloe being quite all day and wondered what was up. She hadn't been this reserved since she and Tom had broken up, and that had only lasted about an hour. This was something different, more important.

"Hey, is something up?" she asked eventually.

"Huh? Oh no."

"You've been acting weird all day, for serious, what's up with you?"

"Nothing Aubrey, I'm fine."

Aubrey dropped it for the moment but vowed that if Chloe wasn't back to her usual self after lunch, she would demand an answer.

"Did you ever read Romeo and Juliet?" Chloe asked out of the blue, as though she wasn't really asking a question but was more stuck in her own head.

"Yeah, when I was like 15, why?"

"Oh, I've just been thinking about Romeo and Juliet it all. Like, how they knew their love was too strong to stay apart, even though it meant giving up something else. I just think it's sweet, to love someone like that."

"Chloe," Aubrey said, not sure if she should burst her dazed bubble or not, "you know…um, you know Romeo and Juliet died right? That's not sweet."

"No no, I don't mean like the actual _story._ I Just mean that idea that sometimes there's a feeling so strong that it's worth giving up something else, or potentially making someone else mad."

Aubrey didn't know what to think and she decided not to push it. This was obviously Chloe's mood for the day, and she should leave it at that.

"Why don't you go on lunch break now, we're not very busy, I'm pretty sure I can handle it for an hour."

"Sure," said Chloe and left.

Aubrey watched her go, curious that there was no real excitement as there normally was whenever Chloe went to lunch. Something was up, that was for sure.

* * *

Beca oddly buoyed up that morning, Jesse thought. As though she'd discovered a new source for her power (Jesse had long suspected that Beca was, in some part, and robot).

"You're very upbeat today," he commented.

"I know! I just feel like I've got all this energy today! It's exciting!"

Jesse was slightly worried. He had only ever seen Beca like this before after she'd drunk four cups of tea and eight cups of coffee in one afternoon, and that hadn't ended well for anybody. With this worry that Beca had over caffeinated herself in mind, he tried to think of a solution before she got to the inevitable point of collapse.

"Hey, um, Beca? Do you want to have your lunch now? We're not exactly packed. Go, enjoy yourself while you have the energy."

"Okay dokay," she said, over pronouncing every syllable. "Thanks Jess!" She hugged him and ran off. Something was not right with Beca.

* * *

 **Hey! I hope you're enjoying! I'm not 100% sure exactly where this story is going, but I'm having fun writing it and I hope you're having fun reading it so I'm sure I'll figure it out in the end. Let me know!**

 **xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry it's taken a while for me to update but I've been working all week; yes, I do work in a chocolate shop but my love life is not nearly this exciting. Anyway, I hope you like this! It's a bit shorter than I hope to normally do, but I'm still trying to set the scene a little bit.**

 **xx**

* * *

Beca practically skipped out of the shop, very out of character for herself, and bumped into a taller girl who had her head down. Chloe looked up as she apologised.

"Oh, Beca!" she said, trying to hide her excitement.

"Hey," Beca said quietly, suddenly nervous.

"Are you on lunch right now?"

"Yeah, just started."

"Oh my god me too!" Chloe as good as jumped for joy. "Where were you gonna go?"

"Um…probably just to Starbucks or something…"

"Oh no, you're not. Come with me," Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. "There's this really great café, they do the best toasties!"

Beca nearly pulled away at the touch, but then, somehow eased into it, letting Chloe lead her.

They arrived at a small café, easily unnoticed. Beca, in fact, had never noticed it, despite having lived in this same town her entire life, not that she could claim she was the most observant person, but still.

They both ordered and went to sit down.

"How have you been," Beca started, lamely, "you know…since three hours ago…"

Chloe gave a light chuckle and they chatted briefly about work.

 _"You've got the chocolate taps, haven't you?"_

 _"Are you ready for Easter?"_

 _"Oh yeah, we have to try all the samples."_

When their food arrived, they ate in silence for a few minutes. It was a surprisingly comfortable silence. Beca found, once again, that she didn't feel as awkward around Chloe as she did with most people. She still felt awkward, it was just different. It was less of feeling like she was going to be judged by Chloe and needed to say the right thing, and more that she didn't know why she didn't feel awkward, which, in turn, made her feel awkward again. But not because of Chloe. No. Chloe's presence excited Beca. She felt comfortable and nervous and relaxed all at the same time. It was new.

"You know?" Chloe said breaking the silence, "after you left this morning, I was worried I wouldn't get to see you again. It's stupid really, we hardly know each other but I was sad that we might not get the opportunity to."

Beca wasn't used to anyone being that open and honest with their feelings and sat in a slightly stunned silence. She had also not ben expecting Chloe, the beautiful Chloe, the bubble, happy, ray of sunshine Chloe, to be wanting to spend time with her.

"Yeah," she muttered, "me too."

This was about as much emotion as Beca thought she could handle for now and decided to change the subject.

"So…um…Chloe, tell me about yourself," she said in a sarcastically suggestive voice, lowering her voice as though she were a man in a bar. Beca knew it was lame, but it made Cloe laugh and Beca knew she could always listen to Chloe laugh.

Chloe noticed Beca change the subject. She was actually quite touched at the sincerity of Beca's 'me too.' Even having only spent less than an hour in total with Beca, she was aware of how sarcastic the other girl was. It was funny, and Chloe didn't mind at all but she could feel that just for a moment, Beca had dropped her guard and Chloe couldn't help but smile.

"Hum…" she replied, "about me." She played along as the sweet giggly girl. "Well, my bedroom is painted blue, the best holiday I've ever been on was to Crete, and I think being an astronaut would be the coolest job ever, but I'd never be one 'cause I'm terrified of space."

"Uh...well," Beca laughed at the unconventional answers, "okay, the only time I ever sing is in the shower, or the rain apparently, I can recite the alphabet backwards, and I have a very large collection of soft toys."

Beca knew she would never normally divulge this information, however she'd already learned enough about Chloe to know it would make her laugh, and at that exact moment, Beca was pretty sure nothing else mattered.

"You put on like you're all tough but inside you're just a geek and a softy," Chloe smiled at her.

* * *

Beca walked back into the shop. She had a few minutes left of lunch to recompose herself. She and Chloe had arranged to see each other after work and they agreed that if it was ever raining when Beca had to cycle home then Chloe would drive her instead. Well, 'agreed' is probably the wrong word. Chloe had insisted and Beca had had little reason to stop her.

Once ready to get back to work, she came onto the shop floor.

"So…" Jesse said mischievously, "who was she?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Beca had a minor internal panic, 'how did he know?'

"Who?" she said as if she honestly had no idea.

"That girl! I saw you running past the window with her about an hour ago. I couldn't see what she looked like, you were kinda blocking her, but…who is she?"

"Oh um…she's just a friend," Beca said, realising she could not let on who Chloe was.

Jesse quite obviously did not believe her, but he let it go. Whoever it was had put Beca in a better mood than he'd seen her in months, no, years. And Jesse hadn't known her for years.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so so sorry this has taken so long, but I hope the end makes up for it! I feel like my writing style is a bit weird in this but...hey ho.**

 **xx**

* * *

Chloe was buzzing with excitement when she left work. Se and Beca had arranged to meet outside the centre to avoid being seen together. Chloe knew it was stupid, she knew that it wasn't really that big of a deal, but somehow having Beca as a secret made her more anxious to see her. She also knew that Aubrey would give her hell over the matter, and Chloe just felt, she didn't want to deal with that over a stupid crush. Crush. Yes, that's right, Chloe had realised that she might actually be falling for Beca. Shit.

Chloe and Beca met a few minutes' walk away from work and Chloe hugged her. It was weird to think they'd only known each other for two days.

"Good day?" asked Beca, and then corrected herself, "good three hours?"

Chloe chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, we did well today. You?"

"Yeah, us too."

"I bet not as well as us," Cloe joked.

"Now now, if we're gonna be friends, then we can't talk about work," Beca stated, half joking, half worried that if she and Chloe started getting competitive with their respective shops, then Chloe would realise that she was far too good for Beca. Beca was so busy thinking this that she didn't even realise she had called Chloe 'her friend.' This had not gone unnoticed by Chloe. Chloe didn't know if she was flattered that Beca considered her a friend, or if she'd just been friendzoned. Not liking the lack of clarity and being the type of person she was; Chloe called her out on it:

"Friend?"

"What?" said Beca, still going through scenarios in her head where Chloe might realise she was way out of Beca's league.

"You called me your friend."

Beca blinked. She hadn't even thought about what she would consider Chloe. Perfect, wonderful, talented, we all words that sprung to mind. But somehow, 'friend' felt wrong. Not that Beca didn't feel that close to Chloe. On the contrary, Chloe was already someone she couldn't stop thinking about, someone who she could talk to about anything, someone…amazing. 'Friend felt like too mundane of a word.

"Yeah, I did. I um…I didn't really think," Beca didn't know whether she would scare Chloe off by saying what she had been thinking, "yeah, friend."

Chloe smiled. She could tell that Beca wasn't sure, and that somehow reassured her, it meant that maybe there was the chance to be more.

The two girls spent a nice hour together before Beca really had to run. They had exchanged numbers by this point and Chloe had promised to text. Beca did not doubt this to be true.

* * *

Over the next week or so, Beca and Chloe couldn't help but bump into each other. They had been texting non-stop but had not properly arranged to see each other again. However, that hadn't managed to stop them.

The first time it happened was when Beca was closing the shop one day. She went out the back to take the bins down to the loading bay. She pressed the button on the lift and went down to floor -2. It was cold down there, and quiet. Beca was carrying about three bags full of rubbish and a load of cardboard boxes. She'd had to hoist the bags over her shoulder and was attempting to drag the boxed across the floor. She reached the bins and began to throw the bags over the metal railing. Just then, she heard grunting coming from across the large concrete bay. Beca wasn't used to ever seeing anyone else down there. In all honesty, sometimes if felt like they were the only shop who ever threw anything away. But, looking across the room, she saw another figure in the high-vis jacket that was standard for being in the loading bay. Beca squinted, the figure was looking at the chart on the wall to work out where to throw her rubbish.

"The blue one's recycling, the black one is general waste, and the red one is electricals." Beca had memorised the chart on the first day, it being about a hundred meters away from the lift.

"Thanks," called the voice. Silence. Then, "Beca?"

"Yeah…?"

"It's Chloe!" called the cheery redhead.

"Oh! Hey!" said Beca, feeling the evening was about to get better already.

Chloe walked over to Beca's side of the bay. "Fancy seeing you here," she giggled.

"It is, actually," there was a pause. "It's um…it's really depressing down here don't you think?"

"Yeah, it could be worse though," said Chloe, putting her ever-positive spin on the situation, "at least we don't work down here." Chloe stepped slightly closer towards Beca.

"Well, that is very true," said Beca, not being able to help herself lean into Chloe slightly.

The silence fell again, but tis time, something hung in the air around the girls. Both of them felt as though a force were pulling them together. And then the lift dinged.

* * *

The second time they bumped into each other was during a fire alarm. It was a false alarm set off by one of the clothes shops but the whole shopping centre had to be evacuated. All the staff had their own evacuation points and as Beca and Jesse were headed to theirs', they walked straight into Chloe and Aubrey.

"Ugh, watch where you're going," said Aubrey to Jesse. It made Beca look up and stormy sea coloured eyes met sky blue. Chloe found it very difficult not to smile at Beca. Beca let out a small gasp that she played off as a giggle.

Aubrey turned from reprimanding Jesse at Beca's noise, "and what are you laughing at?"

Beca thought fast, "oh, just, I want to tell him off for being a dickhead most of the time so watching you do it for me is a lot of fun."

"Oh thanks for having my back Beca!" Jesse said indignantly.

"Sorry Jess," Beca shrugged.

Beca and Jesse's evacuation point was right next to Chloe and Aubrey and Aubrey seemed less than happy.

"Oh come on Aubrey, it's for five minutes before we're let back inside."

Aubrey made a noise of disgust.

"Sorry about her," Chloe turned to Jesse and Aubrey looked betrayed.

"Oh, it's fine," said Jesse, "I'm more pissed off with this one for not having my back that with your friend," he jokingly glared at Beca.

Beca laughed. As did Chloe.

"I'm Chloe, by the way," said Chloe, extending a hand. Beca realised that Chloe was not only pretending that they didn't know each other but was actually reintroducing herself to Beca.

"Beca," she said, shaking Chloe's hand and smiling at the contact, "and the dickhead is Jesse."

"Nice to meet you both," she grinned.

Just then, the alarm stopped and everyone was allowed back in. Chloe and Beca smiled goodbye to each other, not wanting to make it seem like they'd met before.

"What were you doing back there?!" Aubrey whisper-yelled.

"Making friends," stated Chloe.

"They," Aubrey gesture, "are the enemy.

Chloe shook her head and smiled as they walked away.

* * *

The final time that it happened that week was after work. It was a Sunday and both Montague Chocolates and Choculates had food left over from the week to throw away. Beca put their wasted chocolates into a bag and took them to the café opposite. They quite often gave their wastage to the café who, in return, would give them their leftover cake. As Beca walked through the door, she noticed someone else was already there.

Chloe had also been tasked with taking their wastage to the café. Beca snuck up behind her, suddenly confident. She grabbed Chloe from behind causing the taller girl to scream.

They both handed over their food and left.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Chloe said smiling.

"Actually," Beca corrected, "this is the only time we can meet."

They were standing opposite each other by this point, both smiling. The invisible force was back again, pulling them in towards each other, and this time, nothing stopped them. They were touching. Chloe's hand on Beca's face, Beca's on Chloe's waist. And they kissed. Stood in the same place that they had sung together only a week before, although it felt like more. And they stood, chest to chest, until finally the sound of a speeding car brought them both back to reality, and the realisation that they would have to go home, away from each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys, I am so so sorry that I didn't do this earlier! I've just been uninspired and wallowing in self pity lately (which is where at least the beginning of this story came from) but I really love reading your comments and it made me want to comtinue this story, so here you go, let me know!**

* * *

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit," Beca muttered to herself as she walked straight through her front door, up the stairs, and into her room without responding to her Dad's 'hello.'

She through herself onto her bed and lay there, replaying the events of the evening. Beca had bumped into Chloe. They had flirted. They had kissed (!). And then…then, Beca had run. This was the part that she couldn't stop thinking about. It made her feel sick, like when someone brings up an embarrassing moment. She had run. Chloe had kissed her and Beca had kissed her back, but then, she had run.

"Ugh," Beca hit her forehead. Why had she done that?! She had wanted to kiss Chloe, she had enjoyed kissing Chloe, and she wanted to kiss Chloe again. Hell, she wanted to still be kissing Chloe, but instead, here she was, lying on her bed, wallowing in her own self-pity. She didn't know whether she should text or call or if she'd already missed her chance, so she just lay there, wondering if Chloe would ever talk to her again.

* * *

Chloe had stood for a moment after Beca had left, not knowing what to do. Part of her was giddy with excitement at having kissed Beca, the other part was filled with anxiety and disappointment. Chloe had driven around for a while before finally heading back to her house just to try and improve her mood. Driving normally made her feel better; playing her music as loud as she wanted and singing, but this time, when she'd put her phone on shuffle, the first track that came on was Titanium.

When she got home, she gone straight into her bedroom. She lay on her bed fiddling with her phone. Should she call Beca to apologies? Chloe had obviously misread the situation. Chloe felt guilty. She hadn't wanted to scare away Beca. She loved the friendship and if Beca didn't want anything more, which she pretty obviously didn't, then Chloe didn't mind just staying friends. Ugh, she didn't know what to do or what to think, so she just lay there, until she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day both girls woke up, got ready for work, and left the house. They both headed into work. Both Jesse and Aubrey could tell that something was wrong with Beca and Chloe respectively, but both felt that the energy the girls were giving off was not to be provoked. Both Beca and Chloe were in their own heads a lot that morning and by the time it got to around 11, Jesse and Abrey were fed up.

"Just go out for some fresh air!" Jesse finally let out.

"Ugh, please can you just go and take a walk," Aubrey practically yelled at Chloe.

Both girls left to clear their heads and, right on que, they bumped into each other. The week before they had both been looking for opportunities to 'bump into' each other, but today, today was not the day.

"Hey…" Beca said.

"Hey…" replied Chloe.

"Fresh air?"

"Yeah…um Aubrey made me leave."

"Jesse made me leave."

"Sounds like we've had pretty similar mornings…"

"Yeah…" Beca trailed. She didn't know what to say or do, so again, she ran. Not as literally as last time but it had much the same effect, quickly excusing herself and turning back towards the shop.

Chloe stood, again, alone after Beca had left her. She'd fucked things up. Beca now felt uncomfortable around her and it was all her fault.

Beca kicked herself. Again. She'd done it again. She'd fucked up. And if she wanted to make amends, to actually stand a chance with Chloe, she needed to do something to make Chloe realise that Beca was the idiot, not her.

"Hey Jess," she called.

"Yeah?"

"Hypothetically, if you'd fucked up with someone and you wanted to make things right, what would you do?"

"Well, how right do you want to make things? Hypothetically?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Like, you want to be with them, kind of right…" she was already regretting bring anything up, but it almost felt good to get this close to talking about Chloe with someone.

"So there is a girl," Jesse squealed.

"What?" Beca said, badly feigning ignorance.

"Is it the redhead?"

Beca panicked, "um…?"

"You know, the redhead I saw you with about a week ago? You walked past the window?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," she said breathing a sigh, he still didn't know who Chloe was.

"So it _is_ her!"

"Yeah, look okay, it's maybe her but it definitely won't be if you don't help me with this."

"Okay okay, I'll help. So, you fucked up, no surprise there."

"Not helpful Jess," Beca warned in her voice.

"Hmm so you need to fix your fuck up as well as let her know that you want something more…give her some chocolate?"

Beca realised Jesse couldn't know that Chloe also worked in a chocolate shop but it was a pretty pathetic idea anyway. "Yeah, maybe…" she said, thinking about what else she could do. "Hey, um, I know we're meant to be closing together tonight, but I'm good to do it alone."

"It's okay, I don't min—"

"No really Jesse," Beca stopped him, "I kinda wanna be by myself tonight, just try and refocus," she had started to form an idea.

"Alright, I'm not gonna complain about going home an hour early. Tell me more about this girl."

* * *

Beca had her lunch break at 2 and she basically ran into the back. She took out her laptop. She had an hour to put her plan into play and she didn't know if it was enough time. She grabbed a bag of crisps and put on her headphones, opening tracks and files, trying to find what she was looking for. The time slowly approached 3 o'clock and Beca hurried through what she was working on. The last art was the hardest, which was exactly why she had left it until the end. She picked up her phone and sent a text:

 **To Chloe:** Hey, sorry earlier and yesterday was weird, meet me at my shop later? At around 8:20? Please xx

It was 3 and Beca didn't want to know what Chloe's response would be until she did or didn't show up. She turned off her phone and went back out to shop floor.

* * *

 **xx**


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

 **I am so so so so sorry this has been forever. I went abroad for 3 months and then I was lazy but here we go!**

 **Xx**

At 7, Jesse left and Beca was on her own. While she needed Jesse not to be here for her plan to work, he was also a nice distraction from wondering whether Chloe was going to come. She started to clean everything and when she was done, she stood, hoping for a customer to come in and distract her, a thought which Beca had never had. She served a few people, but the evenings were never busy and her heart rate rose as each minute went by.

At bang on 8pm, Beca ran to the door to lock it and rushed into the back to cash up. Once finished, she brought her laptop out and hooked it up to the speakers in the shop. She couldn't bare to just sit around waiting so she looked around to see if there was anything more she could do. She knew Chloe worked in a chocolate shop herself but she also knew that they didn't serve chocolate coated strawberries so, hating herself for being so cute, Beca took out some of the strawberries that they hadn't sold that day and placed them into a box, then tying a ribbon around it and writing 'xx' in black marker on top.

At around 8:45, Beca was giving up hope. She knew she couldn't stay in the shop any longer than 9 and she also knew that Chloe knew that. She was just about to close her laptop when she heard a soft knock on the glass door. She looked up and there was Chloe! Beca was about to run to the door when she remembered her mix. She pressed play and went to let Chloe in.

"Hi," Beca said nervously.

"Hi!" Chloe beamed at her, although she felt like maybe she'd done something wrong with Beca before, she hoped they could make amends.

"Uh, come in," Beca guestured.

As Chloe entered, she noticed the music: titanium, mixed with 500 miles.

"This is cool, where do you find the mix?" She asked.

"Oh I uh...I actually made it..." Beca trailed off.

"This is amazing, Beca!"

"Thanks," she replied awkwardly. The track came to an end and the girls stood in silence for a second, looking at each other, before the next track started and Chloe knew that Beca had made it just for her: just the was you are mixed with just a dream.

"Um...I wanted to appologies for running the other day, and earlier, and just for generally freaking out," said Beca, looking between Chloe and the floor.

"No, Beca, I'm sorry. It was a mistake and I don't want to loose what already feels like a strong connection over a stupid kiss."

Beca felt her heart sink; had Chloe not wanted to kiss her? 'No', she told herself, 'this time, you're going to say what you feel,' she thought.

"No, Chloe, I wanted you to kiss me, because...because I wanted to kiss you." Beca finally brought her eyes to meet Chloe's. The invisible force was back and both girls felt it pushing them together. Beca momentarily froze, but Chloe noticed.

"You have to make the move, Beca," she said softly, her face inches from the other girl.

And Beca did. Finally, with all her courage, she moved in towards Chloe until their lips met. Eventually both girls were smiling too much to keep going and they broke apart.

They stood, their faces still close for a few seconds longer before Chloe brought in a reality check. "Beca, I don't mean to ruin the moment, but it's 8:55."

"Shit! Shit shit shit! Um okay, I've gotta get all my stuff packed away, um, I'll let you out," she ran to the door to unlock it, "see you tomorrow?"

"Of course!"

"Oh! I almost forgot," Beca ran back and picked up the box of strawberries, "text me when you're home?"

"Absolutely, Beca."

As Beca packed up he stuff and Chloe walked to her car, both girls couldn't keep the smiles off their faces.

 **Again, so sorry that this is like 4 months late but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Xx**


End file.
